Rent The Runwayhttp://www.businessinsider.com/category/rent-the-runway
en-usFri, 09 Dec 2016 22:14:25 -0500Fri, 09 Dec 2016 22:14:25 -0500The latest news on Rent The Runway from Business Insiderhttp://static3.businessinsider.com/assets/images/bilogo-250x36-wide-rev.pngBusiness Insiderhttp://www.businessinsider.com
http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-eliminating-bonuses-and-raising-salaries-instead-2016-9Rent the Runway is eliminating bonuses for its 950 employees and raising their salaries insteadhttp://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-eliminating-bonuses-and-raising-salaries-instead-2016-9
Sat, 01 Oct 2016 09:00:00 -0400Business Insider
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57eb1a84077dcc39128b8702-2400/jenn hyman rent the runway.jpg" alt="Jenn Hyman Rent the Runway" data-mce-source="Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Cosmopolitan" data-mce-caption="CEO of Rent The Runway Jenn Hyman speaks onstage during Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Money 2016 on September 24, 2016 at Cedar Lake in New York City." />Rent the Runway, the online clothing-rental startup that's <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2016/06/15/rent-the-runway-unlimited-women-founders-revenues/#1062662549e4">on track to bring in $100 million in revenues by year's end</a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, has overhauled&nbsp;how it compensates employees.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Starting immediately, the company is eliminating performance bonuses and instead incorporating previous bonus potential into&nbsp;each employee&rsquo;s salary, Jenn Hyman, Rent the Runway cofounder and CEO, told Business Insider. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In effect, all 950 employees will see a boost to their salary &mdash; though those who hit their bonus thresholds won't necessarily have any more money in their pocket. Hyman says the change is meant to underscore the company&rsquo;s trust in its employees and to streamline its efforts to scale the business.</span></p>
<p>&ldquo;We're saying we trust you as a team member, we trust your best of intentions, we trust that you're working your butt off, and sometimes, the work that you do is going to dramatically impact our financials, and sometimes it won't,&rdquo; she said. The important thing, Hyman stressed, is that employees are given the resources to grow at the same pace as the company, in terms of learning and taking on new and additional responsibility.</p>
<p>Rent the Runway declined to&nbsp;specify how much&nbsp;the compensation move would cost the company.&nbsp;The size of raise employees will receive will vary depending on their previous bonus potential, which was determined by level and tenure at the company as well as performance and contribution.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think it's one of the most important things we've ever done as a company,&rdquo; Hyman said of the startup, which was <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/10/28/rent-the-runway-nears-end-of-series-d-round-valuation-could-top-600-million/#10991ca2192e">last valued between $400 million and $600 million</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The decision to end bonuses and boost salaries&nbsp;came after repeated feedback from employees who said the potential of a bonus was &ldquo;a distraction from learning,&rdquo; according to Hyman. Employees tended to provide &ldquo;100% positive&rdquo; feedback on&nbsp;their coworkers'&nbsp;performance because they didn't want to affect a colleague's&nbsp;take-home pay. The absence of constructive&nbsp;criticism ended up stunting the growth of employees and the company as a whole, Hyman said.</span></p>
<p>"The candidness was often missing, and therefore, we weren't learning as much as we could've, which didn't allow us to scale as much," Hyman told Business Insider.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, with bonus potential out of the picture, Hyman hopes&nbsp;employees will shift their focus from near-term compensation goals to "those big, hairy, audacious goals that are going to impact the business," as well as begin sharing candid feedback with management and colleagues.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After years of considering an alternate compensation model, Hyman said it&rsquo;s time to &ldquo;forge new territory based on the culture that we want to create at Rent the Runway &mdash; which is a culture of learning.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though it&rsquo;s a drastic change, Hyman ensures they&rsquo;re committed. &ldquo;It's not an experiment, we're going to make this compensation &mdash; giving everyone a raise &mdash; fundamental to scaling the company.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The compensation change comes after a rocky 2015 in which <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/11/17/rent-the-runway-exodus/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fortune spoke with former employees and investors to investigate</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;the &ldquo;exodus&rdquo; at Rent the Runway of&nbsp;several top-level executives, who were either fired or left the company over the span of 10 months. Ex-employees&nbsp;claimed&nbsp;Rent the Runway&rsquo;s company culture was&nbsp;generally hostile and its management team disorganized.&nbsp;Hyman denied the characterization.&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rent the Runway also <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11">struggled </a>with the launch of its <a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/unlimited"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unlimited subscription service</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which came out in beta in 2014, shuffling through dozens of iterations before getting it right. The service charges customers $139 per month &mdash; or about $1,700 annually &mdash; and since exiting&nbsp;beta and opening widely on March 24th, it has accounted for 20 percent of the company's revenue, which is reportedly on track&nbsp;to exceed $100 million this year.</span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.techinsider.io/rent-the-runway-unlimited-subscription-2016-4" >I spent $150 a month renting clothes and now I'm never going back to fast fashion</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-eliminating-bonuses-and-raising-salaries-instead-2016-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/financial-planner-sophia-bera-money-habit-millennials-rich-2016-11">A financial planner reveals an important money lesson young people can learn from the rich</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-eliminating-bonuses-and-raising-salaries-instead-2016-9Rent the Runway is eliminating bonuses for its 950 employees and raising their salaries insteadhttp://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-eliminating-bonuses-and-raising-salaries-instead-2016-9
Wed, 28 Sep 2016 14:21:00 -0400Tanza Loudenback
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57eb1a84077dcc39128b8702-2400/jenn hyman rent the runway.jpg" alt="Jenn Hyman Rent the Runway" data-mce-source="Cindy Ord/Getty Images for Cosmopolitan" data-mce-caption="CEO of Rent The Runway Jenn Hyman speaks onstage during Cosmopolitan Fun Fearless Money 2016 on September 24, 2016 at Cedar Lake in New York City." />Rent the Runway, the online clothing-rental startup that's <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/clareoconnor/2016/06/15/rent-the-runway-unlimited-women-founders-revenues/#1062662549e4">on track to bring in $100 million in revenues by year's end</a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, has overhauled&nbsp;how it compensates employees.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Starting immediately, the company is eliminating performance bonuses and instead incorporating previous bonus potential into&nbsp;each employee&rsquo;s salary, Jenn Hyman, Rent the Runway cofounder and CEO, told Business Insider. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In effect, all 950 employees will see a boost to their salary &mdash; though those who hit their bonus thresholds won't necessarily have any more money in their pocket. Hyman says the change is meant to underscore the company&rsquo;s trust in its employees and to streamline its efforts to scale the business.</span></p>
<p>&ldquo;We're saying we trust you as a team member, we trust your best of intentions, we trust that you're working your butt off, and sometimes, the work that you do is going to dramatically impact our financials, and sometimes it won't,&rdquo; she said. The important thing, Hyman stressed, is that employees are given the resources to grow at the same pace as the company, in terms of learning and taking on new and additional responsibility.</p>
<p>Rent the Runway declined to&nbsp;specify how much&nbsp;the compensation move would cost the company.&nbsp;The size of raise employees will receive will vary depending on their previous bonus potential, which was determined by level and tenure at the company as well as performance and contribution.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I think it's one of the most important things we've ever done as a company,&rdquo; Hyman said of the startup, which was <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/10/28/rent-the-runway-nears-end-of-series-d-round-valuation-could-top-600-million/#10991ca2192e">last valued between $400 million and $600 million</a>.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The decision to end bonuses and boost salaries&nbsp;came after repeated feedback from employees who said the potential of a bonus was &ldquo;a distraction from learning,&rdquo; according to Hyman. Employees tended to provide &ldquo;100% positive&rdquo; feedback on&nbsp;their coworkers'&nbsp;performance because they didn't want to affect a colleague's&nbsp;take-home pay. The absence of constructive&nbsp;criticism ended up stunting the growth of employees and the company as a whole, Hyman said.</span></p>
<p>"The candidness was often missing, and therefore, we weren't learning as much as we could've, which didn't allow us to scale as much," Hyman told Business Insider.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Now, with bonus potential out of the picture, Hyman hopes&nbsp;employees will shift their focus from near-term compensation goals to "those big, hairy, audacious goals that are going to impact the business," as well as begin sharing candid feedback with management and colleagues.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After years of considering an alternate compensation model, Hyman said it&rsquo;s time to &ldquo;forge new territory based on the culture that we want to create at Rent the Runway &mdash; which is a culture of learning.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though it&rsquo;s a drastic change, Hyman ensures they&rsquo;re committed. &ldquo;It's not an experiment, we're going to make this compensation &mdash; giving everyone a raise &mdash; fundamental to scaling the company.&rdquo;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The compensation change comes after a rocky 2015 in which <a href="http://fortune.com/2015/11/17/rent-the-runway-exodus/"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Fortune spoke with former employees and investors to investigate</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">&nbsp;the &ldquo;exodus&rdquo; at Rent the Runway of&nbsp;several top-level executives, who were either fired or left the company over the span of 10 months. Ex-employees&nbsp;claimed&nbsp;Rent the Runway&rsquo;s company culture was&nbsp;generally hostile and its management team disorganized.&nbsp;Hyman denied the characterization.&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Rent the Runway also <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11">struggled </a>with the launch of its <a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/unlimited"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unlimited subscription service</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, which came out in beta in 2014, shuffling through dozens of iterations before getting it right. The service charges customers $139 per month &mdash; or about $1,700 annually &mdash; and since exiting&nbsp;beta and opening widely on March 24th, it has accounted for 20 percent of the company's revenue, which is reportedly on track&nbsp;to exceed $100 million this year.</span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.techinsider.io/rent-the-runway-unlimited-subscription-2016-4" >I spent $150 a month renting clothes and now I'm never going back to fast fashion</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-eliminating-bonuses-and-raising-salaries-instead-2016-9#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/income-state-top-one-percent-salary-map-2016-11">Here's how much you need to make to be in the top 1% of every state</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-subscription-2016-4/I spent $150 a month renting clothes, and now I'm never going back to fast fashionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-subscription-2016-4/
Fri, 05 Aug 2016 17:00:00 -0400Megan Willett
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/57237499dd0895651d8b4735-1109-831/screen%20shot%202016-04-28%20at%204.58.38%20pm.png" alt="rent the runway unlimited" data-mce-source="Rent the Runway"></p><p>Over the past month, I've been testing out a new retail service that sends clothes from designers like Tory Burch and Free People to my doorstep, and it's completely changed the way I look at my closet.</p>
<p>Six-year-old fashion startup Rent the Runway is behind <a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/">Unlimited</a>, which charges customers<span class="s1"> $139 per month to get three dresses, sweaters, handbags, or coats at a time. </span><span class="s2">Before tax, that's around $1,700 a year.</span></p>
<p><span class="s2">The idea is</span><span class="s1"> to create a "closet in the cloud," according to <span>Brooke Hartmann, senior vice president of subscription at Rent the Runway.</span></span></p>
<p><span class="s1">"</span><span class="s1">Imagine your closet has a trapdoor in the back and it opens to the Rent the Runway warehouse,"<span> </span><span>she</span> tells Tech Insider.</span></p>
<p><span class="s2">Unlimited is still taking shape. The company has gone through multiple testing phases, first with a $75 accessories subscription and then with a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-review-2015-11">$99 beta program</a>, and there are still <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11">kinks</a> to be worked out. <span>Hartmann</span> says that there may be a tiered service coming soon, not unlike the <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/13/classpass-is-testing-higher-prices-for-unlimited-users/">newest iteration of ClassPass</a>.</span></p>
<p><span class="s2">But after trying Unlimited, I have to say that I'm a believer in the service. Keep reading to see why.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/capsule-wardrobe-experiment-2016-4" >I tried the popular 'capsule wardrobe' and whittled my closet down to just 30 items — here's why I'm never looking back</a></strong></p>
<h3>Rent the Runway is known for its model of renting out thousand-dollar designer gowns to customers for under $100 for four or eight days.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/57237499dd0895651d8b4737-400-300/rent-the-runway-is-known-for-its-model-of-renting-out-thousand-dollar-designer-gowns-to-customers-for-under-100-for-four-or-eight-days.jpg" alt="" />
<p><h3 class="slide-title">&nbsp;</h3>
<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>But Unlimited is totally different. Customers essentially have a rotating closet of clothing and accessories for $139 a month — not including tax.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57237499dd0895651d8b4738-400-300/but-unlimited-is-totally-different-customers-essentially-have-a-rotating-closet-of-clothing-and-accessories-for-139-a-month--not-including-tax.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span class="s2">The company realized that customers were trying to get more use out of their orders&nbsp;by throwing blazers or sweaters over cocktail dresses at work, so w</span><span class="s2">hy not give them everyday clothing options instead?</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>The subscription service lets you select three things and keep them for however long you wish*. Once you're done with any or all three items, you repack the garment bag and ship them back to Rent the Runway for free.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57237499dd0895651d8b4739-400-300/the-subscription-service-lets-you-select-three-things-and-keep-them-for-however-long-you-wish-once-youre-done-with-any-or-all-three-items-you-repack-the-garment-bag-and-ship-them-back-to-rent-the-runway-for-free.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p class="slide-title">*While using the subscription service.</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-subscription-2016-4/#/#and-then-you-can-order-more-stuff-once-rent-the-runway-receives-your-shipment-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-clothing-rental-site-style-lend-2016-7I tried a startup that lets you borrow clothes from someone else's closet. Here's what I foundhttp://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-clothing-rental-site-style-lend-2016-7
Mon, 11 Jul 2016 11:08:00 -0400Avery Hartmans
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5783a7bb4321f1c62f8b6a13-912/screen shot 2016-07-08 at 4.59.00 pm.png" alt="Style Lend homepage" data-mce-source="Style Lend" /></p><p>When I first heard about a startup that lets you rent clothes out of someone else's closet, I was intrigued.</p>
<p>Called&nbsp;<a href="https://stylelend.com/" target="_blank">Style Lend</a>, the company&nbsp;<span>hosts hundreds of designer styles that users can rent for a fraction of the cost and return after a few days' time. The difference, however, is that the clothes actually belong to someone else.</span></p>
<p>Style Lend&nbsp;launched out of Y Combinator's winter 2014 class and, in general, is pretty similar to competitors Rent the Runway and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-rent-the-runway-competitor-armarium-2016-6" target="_blank">Armarium</a>&nbsp;&mdash; although TechCrunch compares it to an <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2014/03/20/style-lend-launches-out-of-y-combinator-to-be-the-airbnb-for-womens-closets/" target="_blank">Airbnb for clothes</a>.</p>
<p>For the owners of the clothes on the site, it seems like a great way to earn back&nbsp;money spent on expensive clothing, bags, and accessories, but I wondered what it was like for a user.&nbsp;As someone with three older sisters and a bevy of generous female friends, I've never been hesitant about borrowing clothes from someone else. But what would it be like borrowing clothes from a stranger?&nbsp;</p>
<p>I decided to give it a try.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/taxis-beating-uber-and-lyft-in-new-york-city-2016-7" >Taxis are still beating Uber and Lyft in New York City</a></strong></p>
<h3>The first thing I noticed about Style Lend is that the selection is different from similar clothing rental sites.</h3>
<p><p><iframe width="680" height="491" frameborder="0" src="//giphy.com/embed/26BRKayGwPPXJE61W"></iframe></p>
<p><a href="http://giphy.com/gifs/26BRKayGwPPXJE61W"></a>There were plenty of options for those who wear a size 0, 2 or 4, but for anything larger than a sample size, the selection was pretty limited. Plus, there's typically only one size of each item, since the clothes&nbsp;come directly from someone's closet.</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>However, I was able to find a dress I liked in my size — and I had a coupon code for a $20 discount.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5783a0eb4321f1c72f8b69fc-400-300/however-i-was-able-to-find-a-dress-i-liked-in-my-size--and-i-had-a-coupon-code-for-a-20-discount.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>But it wasn't available right away, so I had to wait about three weeks for my dress to arrive.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5783a14e4321f11b008b72f9-400-300/but-it-wasnt-available-right-away-so-i-had-to-wait-about-three-weeks-for-my-dress-to-arrive.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-clothing-rental-site-style-lend-2016-7#/#when-it-finally-did-arrive-it-looked-somewhat-different-from-the-picture-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/cake-founder-suelin-chin-used-project-entrepreneur-to-overcome-bias-2016-7The bias against women 'is so much worse' in tech than in science, says this startup founderhttp://www.businessinsider.com/cake-founder-suelin-chin-used-project-entrepreneur-to-overcome-bias-2016-7
Sun, 03 Jul 2016 08:45:00 -0400Avery Hartmans
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5776d9f04321f1c72f8b51f6-2400/winners.jpg" alt="Winners" data-mce-source="ADG Photography/Amanda Gentile" data-mce-caption="Winners of the Project Entrepreneur Venture Competition, from left to right: Cake founder Suelin Chen; Full Harvest founder Christine Moseley; Rent the Runway cofounder Jenny Fleiss; Rent the Runway cofounder and CEO Jennifer Hyman; and Komae cofounder Amy Husted and Audrey Wallace." /></p><p>Until September 2014, Suelin Chen had spent her career in the sciences, attending&nbsp;MIT, working as a research assistant at Massachusetts General Hospital, and working at Harvard.</p>
<p>So when she left the world of science and engineering to found her own startup,&nbsp;she didn't think she'd&nbsp;face any pushback. She'd had years of experience, training from&nbsp;one of the best universities in the world and an idea that she was 100% confident would succeed.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But she immediately found that the startup world was not as welcoming as she was expecting.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>"There was always huge gender imbalance in my graduate program, but it&rsquo;s so much worse in tech," Chen told Business Insider. </span></p>
<p><span>"There are so many biases that I&rsquo;ve encountered and there&rsquo;s so few role models for us. I have some great networks in Boston, and I have a lot of great entrepreneur friends, but most of them are men."</span></p>
<p><span>Chen began seeking out groups for female founders, which is when she heard about <a href="http://projectentrepreneur.org/" target="_blank">Project Entrepreneur</a>, an accelerator for early-stage companies created by Rent the Runway founders Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss in partnership with UBS. She applied and her company, <a href="https://www.joincake.com/welcome/" target="_blank">Cake</a>, was one of three companies chosen to&nbsp;participate in&nbsp;the program.</span></p>
<h2><strong>'They still don't take me seriously'</strong></h2>
<p><span>Chen describes Cake as a platform for&nbsp;sharing end-of-life preferences. Upon signing up, users answer a series of questions from health care preferences to insurance issues to the music they want at their&nbsp;funeral, with the answers populating a profile that can be viewed by family members. </span></p>
<p><span>If you're wondering about the name of the company, Chen said it's named Cake because planning the end of your life should be like a piece of cake, rather than stressful and confusing.</span></p>
<p><span>As Chen worked to get Cake up and running, she asked for advice from friends in the startup world who have gone through some of the same things, like fundraising and creating a business plan.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>But what worked for her male entrepreneur friends wasn't working for her. When she tried their tactics, she faced skepticism and a lack of respect.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>"I have a Ph.D. from MIT. I was the director of the Lab at Harvard. It doesn&rsquo;t matter. They still don&rsquo;t take me seriously," Chen said. "No matter my credentials, no matter all the data that we&rsquo;ve gathered about my company. We have partnerships with huge health care companies and are working with one of the largest insurers in the U.S. and it&rsquo;s still not enough.&nbsp;</span><span>I&rsquo;ve been told I&rsquo;m too nice, I&rsquo;m too feminine."</span></p>
<p><span><img class="float_left float_right" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5776da444321f1c62f8b5203-652/suelinchen.jpg" alt="SuelinChen" data-mce-source="Suelin Chen" />That has changed after Project Entrepreneur, she said.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>The six-week program &mdash; which involved three female-founded startups working out of&nbsp;at Rent the Runway's headquarters to build their businesses &mdash; wrapped&nbsp;up on June 30. </span></p>
<p><span>Chen said the best part of the program was not only meeting other women going through the same things she was, but also finding mentors in Hyman and Fleiss who could give her specific&nbsp;solutions to her problems, provide her with feedback she could use and help her build confidence.&nbsp;</span></p>
<h2><strong>Giving concrete advice, not platitudes</strong></h2>
<p><span>Being able to provide&nbsp;specific, meaningful feedback was one of the reasons Rent the Runway wanted to start an accelerator, Hyman said.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>"Everyone in the world of entrepreneurship gives you these high-level pieces of feedback and advice that actually don&rsquo;t translate into helping you answer a question like, 'How do I get my employees health care? What if I don&rsquo;t know how to do graphic design? How do I design my first brand?'" Hyman said. "Those are the things that are the real roadblocks for you at the beginning."</span></p>
<p><span>As Hyman and Fleiss were working to launch Rent the Runway, they were lucky enough to meet with heads of some big, successful startups like Netflix, Spotify and eBay. While they were offered great advice, Hyman said they rarely received the practical tips they really needed. </span></p>
<p><span>That early experience is what made them realize they wanted to help others get their start, and to do that sooner rather than later.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>"A&nbsp;lot of things had to go right for us to get to where we are today," Hyman said. "We decided that we wanted to start actively paying it forward right now while we still remembered all of the struggles of the early days. The other approach would be, wait 10 or 15 years, wait until Rent the Runway is a much, much bigger business, and then go out and start helping founders. But you&rsquo;re kind of disconnected at the point from the everyday questions of how do you scale and how do you get traffic to the site."</span></p>
<p><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5776db774321f102278b589f-2400/judges.jpg" alt="Judges" data-mce-source="ADG Photography/Amanda Gentile" data-mce-caption="Project Entrepreneur's judges, from left to right: Rebecca Minkoff, co-founder and creative director of Rebecca Minkoff; Anu Duggal, founding partner at F Cubed; Rent the Runway cofounder Jenny Fleiss; Rent the Runway cofounder and CEO Jennifer Hyman; The Know cofounder Carley Roney; Janine Shelffo, co-head of TMT at UBS Investment Bank; Katherine L. Oliver, principal at Bloomberg Associates and BBG Ventures President and Founder Susan Lyne." /></span></p>
<p><span>Three companies in the accelerator are&nbsp;vastly different. Besides Cake, the judges chose <a href="http://fullharvest.co/" target="_blank">Full Harvest,</a>&nbsp;which connects farms to food companies in order to sell imperfect or surplus fruit and vegetables, and <a href="http://www.mykomae.com/" target="_blank">Komae</a>, which allows friends and family to exchange babysitting through points in an app. </span></p>
<p><span>All three companies had already made some progress before joining the accelerator, and Hyman said they only accepted companies who could show they had a real and viable business model.&nbsp;Project Entrepreneur&nbsp;isn't looking to launch companies from nothing, and it also doesn't&nbsp;want to launch more companies along the same lines as Rent the Runway.</span></p>
<p><span>"My generation of female entrepreneurs has been isolated to consumer-facing businesses," Hyman said. "Some of the most successful female entrepreneurs like Katrina Lake or Julia Hartz or Payal Kadakia, we&rsquo;re kind of in a similar space. So it was really important to us to break out of that and show that there&rsquo;s diversity in gender and in background and interest."</span></p>
<p><span>And according to Hyman, this first round of Project Entrepreneur is just the beginning. She plans to ask her fellow female founders to participate and hopes to do an accelerator round every summer going forward.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Said Hyman: "I hope that we&rsquo;ll incubate double, if not triple, the companies in our office next year."</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-rent-the-runway-competitor-armarium-2016-6" >I tried the high-end fashion service that lets you rent $5,000+ dresses — here's what I found</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/cake-founder-suelin-chin-used-project-entrepreneur-to-overcome-bias-2016-7#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/tips-to-make-iphone-battery-last-longer-2016-11">These crucial tips will make your iPhone battery last longer</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-rent-the-runway-competitor-armarium-2016-6What it's like renting a $7,000 dress from Rent the Runway's newest competitorhttp://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-rent-the-runway-competitor-armarium-2016-6
Sat, 25 Jun 2016 12:00:00 -0400Avery Hartmans
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/576d3ead52bcd063018cb97c-799/armarium%20founders.jpg" alt="Armarium founders" data-mce-source="Armarium"></p><p>For anyone who has ever needed an outfit for a fancy event, you know the pain of shelling out hundreds of dollars for an outfit you'll probably only wear once. </p>
<p>And if you're a consumer of high-end fashion, you're not shelling out hundreds — you're shelling out thousands. This is where <a href="http://www.armarium.com/">Armarium</a> hopes to step in.</p>
<p>The startup is young — it only just launched out of beta on June 1st — but it's targeting a very specific demographic: women who wear expensive clothes and follow fashion, but either have trouble finding designer fashion — runway styles are rarely sold in stores and are typically not accessible to average consumers — or just don't have the time or closet space to buy the pieces they want. </p>
<p>If you're thinking this sounds pretty similar to Rent the Runway, you're not alone. But Armarium has some key differences besides the luxury price point that founders Trisha Gregory and Alexandra Lind Rose think will help it attract a following. </p>
<p><span>"Our price point is a little higher than Rent the Runway — although we can rent a dress for $200 from a luxury brand," Gregory told Business Insider. "</span><span>We’re definitely hitting a different audience as well. She’s a little bit older than the Rent the Runway customer, she’s very sophisticated, she’s very socially active, she’s traveling a lot. She wants various statement pieces to complement her schedule."</span></p>
<p><span>Both Gregory and Lind Rose have a background in fashion: Gregory oversaw public relations for Salvatore Ferragamo for nearly 10 years and Lind Rose is a former fashion designer who has worked in the industry for more than two decades. The pair had been friends before becoming business partners, but say they both came up with the idea separately, only later deciding to join forces.</span></p>
<p>I got try out Armarium from start to finish. Here's what I thought. </p><p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bentley-53000-megapixel-photo-of-golden-gate-bridge-2016-6" >This 53,000 megapixel photo of the new Bentley takes up an entire football field</a></strong></p>
<h3>There are a few ways to access Armarium clothes — one way is by logging onto the website or scrolling through the app.</h3>
<p><p><iframe width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" src="//giphy.com/embed/26BRxtqoJIy7lfMZ2"></iframe></p>
<p>For those outside New York City, the website or app is your best bet. Here, you can scroll through clothes, bags, jewelry, and accessories. Armarium only ships domestically at the moment, but the company provides&nbsp;a return label and packaging to ship everything&nbsp;back. Armarium&nbsp;also handles dry cleaning.&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Your other option is to visit Armarium's show room or a pop-up space like I did.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/576d2a8852bcd024008cb768-400-300/your-other-option-is-to-visit-armariums-show-room-or-a-pop-up-space-like-i-did.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span>I was greeted with mannequins dressed in couture, racks full of clothes and jewelry --&nbsp;and the offer of a free mimosa. My stylist, Dani Stahl,&nbsp;<span>who's also </span><span>style director at Nylon Magazine,&nbsp;</span>met me soon after and asked me a few questions to get us started:&nbsp;</span><span>what colors&nbsp;and styles&nbsp;I like to wear, if I have any favorite designers, and whether I had any big events coming up.&nbsp;</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>If you choose the in-person route, you can browse through your options and pull out a couple things you'd like to try on.</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/576d29cf52bcd05b008cb660-400-300/if-you-choose-the-in-person-route-you-can-browse-through-your-options-and-pull-out-a-couple-things-youd-like-to-try-on.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Armarium prides itself on having the latest, fresh-off-the-runway styles. When it comes to looking for pieces to add to the site, the team has a couple criteria.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>"Trend, first and foremost," said cofounder Alexandra Lind Rose. "We want it to be very current and relevant at that moment. And construction is a big factor;&nbsp;it has to be really well-constructed and flattering on many different body types and body styles."</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-rent-the-runway-competitor-armarium-2016-6#/#once-my-stylist-and-i-chose-a-few-things-we-liked-i-tried-them-on-one-downside-of-armarium-the-sizes-are-pretty-limited-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-rent-the-runway-competitor-armarium-2016-6I tried the high-end fashion service that lets you rent $5,000+ dresses — here's what I foundhttp://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-rent-the-runway-competitor-armarium-2016-6
Fri, 24 Jun 2016 12:00:00 -0400Avery Hartmans
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/576d3ead52bcd063018cb97c-799/armarium%20founders.jpg" alt="Armarium founders" data-mce-source="Armarium"></p><p>For anyone who has ever needed an outfit for a fancy event, you know the pain of shelling out hundreds of dollars for an outfit you'll probably only wear once. </p>
<p>And if you're a consumer of high-end fashion, you're not shelling out hundreds — you're shelling out thousands. This is where <a href="http://www.armarium.com/">Armarium</a> hopes to step in.</p>
<p>The startup is young — it only just launched out of beta on June 1st — but it's targeting a very specific demographic: women who wear expensive clothes and follow fashion, but either have trouble finding designer fashion — runway styles are rarely sold in stores and are typically not accessible to average consumers — or just don't have the time or closet space to buy the pieces they want. </p>
<p>If you're thinking this sounds pretty similar to Rent the Runway, you're not alone. But Armarium has some key differences besides the luxury price point that founders Trisha Gregory and Alexandra Lind Rose think will help it attract a following. </p>
<p><span>"Our price point is a little higher than Rent the Runway — although we can rent a dress for $200 from a luxury brand," Gregory told Business Insider. "</span><span>We’re definitely hitting a different audience as well. She’s a little bit older than the Rent the Runway customer, she’s very sophisticated, she’s very socially active, she’s traveling a lot. She wants various statement pieces to complement her schedule."</span></p>
<p><span>Both Gregory and Lind Rose have a background in fashion: Gregory oversaw public relations for Salvatore Ferragamo for nearly 10 years and Lind Rose is a former fashion designer who has worked in the industry for more than two decades. The pair had been friends before becoming business partners, but say they both came up with the idea separately, only later deciding to join forces.</span></p>
<p>I got try out Armarium from start to finish. Here's what I thought. </p><p><strong>DON'T MISS:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/bentley-53000-megapixel-photo-of-golden-gate-bridge-2016-6" >This 53,000 megapixel photo of the new Bentley takes up an entire football field</a></strong></p>
<h3>There are a few ways to access Armarium clothes — one way is by logging onto the website or scrolling through the app.</h3>
<p><p><iframe width="800" height="600" frameborder="0" src="//giphy.com/embed/26BRxtqoJIy7lfMZ2"></iframe></p>
<p>For those outside New York City, the website or app is your best bet. Here, you can scroll through clothes, bags, jewelry, and accessories. Armarium only ships domestically at the moment, but the company provides&nbsp;a return label and packaging to ship everything&nbsp;back. Armarium&nbsp;also handles dry cleaning.&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>Your other option is to visit Armarium's show room or a pop-up space like I did.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/576d2a8852bcd024008cb768-400-300/your-other-option-is-to-visit-armariums-show-room-or-a-pop-up-space-like-i-did.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span>I was greeted with mannequins dressed in couture, racks full of clothes and jewelry --&nbsp;and the offer of a free mimosa. My stylist, Dani Stahl,&nbsp;<span>who's also </span><span>style director at Nylon Magazine,&nbsp;</span>met me soon after and asked me a few questions to get us started:&nbsp;</span><span>what colors&nbsp;and styles&nbsp;I like to wear, if I have any favorite designers, and whether I had any big events coming up.&nbsp;</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>If you choose the in-person route, you can browse through your options and pull out a couple things you'd like to try on.</h3>
<img src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/576d29cf52bcd05b008cb660-400-300/if-you-choose-the-in-person-route-you-can-browse-through-your-options-and-pull-out-a-couple-things-youd-like-to-try-on.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p>Armarium prides itself on having the latest, fresh-off-the-runway styles. When it comes to looking for pieces to add to the site, the team has a couple criteria.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>"Trend, first and foremost," said cofounder Alexandra Lind Rose. "We want it to be very current and relevant at that moment. And construction is a big factor;&nbsp;it has to be really well-constructed and flattering on many different body types and body styles."</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/review-of-rent-the-runway-competitor-armarium-2016-6#/#once-my-stylist-and-i-chose-a-few-things-we-liked-i-tried-them-on-one-downside-of-armarium-the-sizes-are-pretty-limited-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-subscription-2016-4I spent $150 a month renting clothes, and now I'm never going back to fast fashionhttp://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-subscription-2016-4
Fri, 29 Apr 2016 11:41:00 -0400Megan Willett
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/57237499dd0895651d8b4735-1109-831/screen%20shot%202016-04-28%20at%204.58.38%20pm.png" alt="rent the runway unlimited" data-mce-source="Rent the Runway"></p><p>Over the past month, I've been testing out a new retail service that sends clothes from designers like Tory Burch and Free People to my doorstep, and it's completely changed the way I look at my closet.</p>
<p>Six-year-old fashion startup Rent the Runway is behind <a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/">Unlimited</a>, which charges customers<span class="s1"> $139 per month to get three dresses, sweaters, handbags, or coats at a time. </span><span class="s2">Before tax, that's around $1,700 a year.</span></p>
<p><span class="s2">The idea is</span><span class="s1"> to create a "closet in the cloud," according to <span>Brooke Hartmann, senior vice president of subscription at Rent the Runway.</span></span></p>
<p><span class="s1">"</span><span class="s1">Imagine your closet has a trapdoor in the back and it opens to the Rent the Runway warehouse,"<span> </span><span>she</span> tells Tech Insider.</span></p>
<p><span class="s2">Unlimited is still taking shape. The company has gone through multiple testing phases, first with a $75 accessories subscription and then with a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-review-2015-11">$99 beta program</a>, and there are still <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11">kinks</a> to be worked out. <span>Hartmann</span> says that there may be a tiered service coming soon, not unlike the <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2016/04/13/classpass-is-testing-higher-prices-for-unlimited-users/">newest iteration of ClassPass</a>.</span></p>
<p><span class="s2">But after trying Unlimited, I have to say that I'm a believer in the service. Keep reading to see why.</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/capsule-wardrobe-experiment-2016-4" >I tried the popular 'capsule wardrobe' and whittled my closet down to just 30 items — here's why I'm never looking back</a></strong></p>
<h3>Rent the Runway is known for its model of renting out thousand-dollar designer gowns to customers for under $100 for four or eight days.</h3>
<img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/57237499dd0895651d8b4737-400-300/rent-the-runway-is-known-for-its-model-of-renting-out-thousand-dollar-designer-gowns-to-customers-for-under-100-for-four-or-eight-days.jpg" alt="" />
<p><h3 class="slide-title">&nbsp;</h3>
<p>&nbsp;</p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>But Unlimited is totally different. Customers essentially have a rotating closet of clothing and accessories for $139 a month — not including tax.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57237499dd0895651d8b4738-400-300/but-unlimited-is-totally-different-customers-essentially-have-a-rotating-closet-of-clothing-and-accessories-for-139-a-month--not-including-tax.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p><span class="s2">The company realized that customers were trying to get more use out of their orders&nbsp;by throwing blazers or sweaters over cocktail dresses at work, so w</span><span class="s2">hy not give them everyday clothing options instead?</span></p></p>
<br/><br/><h3>The subscription service lets you select three things and keep them for however long you wish*. Once you're done with any or all three items, you repack the garment bag and ship them back to Rent the Runway for free.</h3>
<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/57237499dd0895651d8b4739-400-300/the-subscription-service-lets-you-select-three-things-and-keep-them-for-however-long-you-wish-once-youre-done-with-any-or-all-three-items-you-repack-the-garment-bag-and-ship-them-back-to-rent-the-runway-for-free.jpg" alt="" />
<p><p class="slide-title">*While using the subscription service.</p></p>
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-subscription-2016-4#/#and-then-you-can-order-more-stuff-once-rent-the-runway-receives-your-shipment-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-ceo-jennifer-hyman-talks-work-fashion-2016-3The CEO of $500 million startup Rent the Runway thinks this is the biggest fashion mistake women make at workhttp://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-ceo-jennifer-hyman-talks-work-fashion-2016-3
Tue, 29 Mar 2016 12:30:00 -0400Jacquelyn Smith
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/56fab4c48fe4de7056389df5-736-552/jenn-hyman-1.jpg" border="0" alt="jenn hyman"></p><p>Jennifer Hyman knows a thing or two about fashion.</p>
<p>In 2009, she and her Harvard Business School&nbsp;classmate Jennifer Fleiss started Rent the Runway, a luxury clothing and accessories rental company. The business was last valued at about $500 million by venture capitalists and it has raised more than $110 million to date.</p>
<p>Hyman,&nbsp;who recently attended Marie Claire's&nbsp;<a href="http://www.marieclaire.com/career-advice/news/a19382/power-trip-2016/">Power Trip summit</a>, a women's networking event&nbsp;sponsored by Dell, Intel, JetBlue, Shiseido, Tacori, and W Hotels,&nbsp;says there's one major fashion mistake she thinks many women make at work: <strong>"Too much black and navy and neutral boringness."</strong></p>
<p>"You should live a little!" she tells Business Insider. "Many people are afraid to wear something that feels authentic to them for fear of not being 'office appropriate.' But the workplace is a new world and we have the power as women to change it and to be our real authentic selves every day."</p>
<p>However, it's important to note that in some companies, jobs, or industries, workers are <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-boardroom-formal-means-2014-9">encouraged to stick to boring black suits</a> — and dressing "authentically" isn't always an option. But there are easy ways to spruce up any dull work wardrobe.&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">For instance, you can add a colorful scarf or a fun jeweled necklace to your monochrome outfit.</span></p>
<p><span>"What we wear is a great way to show off our diverse personalities," Hyman concludes.</span></p>
<p><span><span>But before you make any drastic wardrobe changes, f</span><span>i</span><span>nd out what's appropriate according to your company's dress code.</span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/marie-claire-editor-anne-fulenwider-on-networking-2016-3" >Marie Claire editor-in-chief says this is how she landed every job she's ever had</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-ceo-jennifer-hyman-talks-work-fashion-2016-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/dan-ariely-job-career-advice-behavioral-economist-quit-2016-12">A behavioral economist reveals when it's time to quit to your job</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/home-screens-top-stars-tech-marc-lore-jennifer-hyman-2015-12Here are the home screens of the top stars in techhttp://www.businessinsider.com/home-screens-top-stars-tech-marc-lore-jennifer-hyman-2015-12
Mon, 04 Jan 2016 15:29:23 -0500Jacqui Frank and Jillian D'Onfro
<div><div>
<script src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script><div class="g-ytsubscribe" data-channel="BusinessInsider" data-layout="full" data-count="default"></div>
</div></div>
<p class="embed-spacer"></p>
<p><span>The apps someone has on their home screen can tell you a lot about them. We<span> asked a collection of entrepreneurs, executives, and VCs for a peek at what apps ended up on their first page.</span></span></p>
<p><em>Produced by <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/author/jacqui-frank" target="_blank">Jacqui Frank</a>. Original reporting by Jillian D'Onfro.</em></p>
<p><strong>Follow BI Video:</strong> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsider.Video" target="_blank">On Facebook</a></p>
<p><span><span> </span></span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/home-screens-top-stars-tech-marc-lore-jennifer-hyman-2015-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-review-2015-11I tried a $99-a-month service that gave me unlimited access to luxury dresses and I'm obsessedhttp://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-review-2015-11
Sun, 29 Nov 2015 14:16:03 -0500Jillian D'Onfro
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5654d82184307626008b540a-777-593/screen%20shot%202015-11-24%20at%201.33.44%20pm.png" alt="RTR" data-mce-source="Rent the Runway"></p><p>Over the past two months, I've fallen in love with a new retail service that gives me unfettered access to gorgeous clothes and jewelry from designers like Tory Burch and Jason Wu.</p>
<p>Called <a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/unlimited">Rent the Runway Unlimited</a>, it lets me pay a monthly subscription fee (<a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/unlimited">originally $99 a month, now $139 a month</a>) to get access a wide variety of outfits and accessories.</p>
<p>The service hasn't been without its problems. Rent the Runway's CEO Jenn Hyman admits Unlimited, which rolled out a year ago, has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11">gone through about 40 different versions</a> as the company struggles to make it successful.</p>
<p>But from a customer perspective, it's worked well the past few months. And it has completely changed the way I view my wardrobe.</p>
<p>Here's the deal:</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2-kinds-of-people-blog-2015-10" >There are two kinds of tech people — which are you?</a></strong></p>
<h3>I first heard about Rent the Runway Unlimited when company CEO Jennifer Hyman talked about it at last year's South By Southwest conference.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5503733169bedd96038b4567-400-300/i-first-heard-about-rent-the-runway-unlimited-when-company-ceo-jennifer-hyman-talked-about-it-at-last-years-south-by-southwest-conference.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Rent the Runway's primary business is leasing out dresses on a one-off basis. They usually cost under $100 for either a four- or eight-day rental. But Unlimited offers something completely different.</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/559edca06bb3f746077d6c84-400-300/rent-the-runways-primary-business-is-leasing-out-dresses-on-a-one-off-basis-they-usually-cost-under-100-for-either-a-four-or-eight-day-rental-but-unlimited-offers-something-completely-different.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>The rules are simple: Pay $99 and receive as many dresses, accessories, or everyday-wear clothing that you can squeeze into a month's time.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/56546635c2814449008b4f9f-400-300/the-rules-are-simple-pay-99-and-receive-as-many-dresses-accessories-or-everyday-wear-clothing-that-you-can-squeeze-into-a-months-time.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-review-2015-11#/#the-idea-appealed-to-me-so-much-because-im-the-kind-of-person-who-loves-clothes-but-generally-spends-my-money-on-cheap-trendy-items-from-the-likes-of-forever-21-and-hm-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-review-2015-11I tried a $99-a-month service that gave me unlimited access to luxury dresses and I'm obsessedhttp://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-review-2015-11
Wed, 25 Nov 2015 10:38:43 -0500Jillian D'Onfro
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5654d82184307626008b540a-777-593/screen%20shot%202015-11-24%20at%201.33.44%20pm.png" alt="RTR" data-mce-source="Rent the Runway"></p><p>Over the past two months, I've fallen in love with a new retail service that gives me unfettered access to gorgeous clothes and jewelry from designers like Tory Burch and Jason Wu.</p>
<p>Called <a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/unlimited">Rent the Runway Unlimited</a>, it lets me pay a monthly subscription fee (<a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/unlimited">originally $99 a month, now $139 a month</a>) to get access a wide variety of outfits and accessories.</p>
<p>The service hasn't been without its problems. Rent the Runway's CEO Jenn Hyman admits Unlimited, which rolled out a year ago, has <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11">gone through about 40 different versions</a> as the company struggles to make it successful.</p>
<p>But from a customer perspective, it's worked well the past few months. And it has completely changed the way I view my wardrobe.</p>
<p>Here's the deal:</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/2-kinds-of-people-blog-2015-10" >There are two kinds of tech people — which are you?</a></strong></p>
<h3>I first heard about Rent the Runway Unlimited when company CEO Jennifer Hyman talked about it at last year's South By Southwest conference.</h3>
<img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5503733169bedd96038b4567-400-300/i-first-heard-about-rent-the-runway-unlimited-when-company-ceo-jennifer-hyman-talked-about-it-at-last-years-south-by-southwest-conference.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>Rent the Runway's primary business is leasing out dresses on a one-off basis. They usually cost under $100 for either a four- or eight-day rental. But Unlimited offers something completely different.</h3>
<img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/559edca06bb3f746077d6c84-400-300/rent-the-runways-primary-business-is-leasing-out-dresses-on-a-one-off-basis-they-usually-cost-under-100-for-either-a-four-or-eight-day-rental-but-unlimited-offers-something-completely-different.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><h3>The rules are simple: Pay $99 and receive as many dresses, accessories, or everyday-wear clothing that you can squeeze into a month's time.</h3>
<img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/56546635c2814449008b4f9f-400-300/the-rules-are-simple-pay-99-and-receive-as-many-dresses-accessories-or-everyday-wear-clothing-that-you-can-squeeze-into-a-months-time.jpg" alt="" />
<br/><br/><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-unlimited-review-2015-11#/#the-idea-appealed-to-me-so-much-because-im-the-kind-of-person-who-loves-clothes-but-generally-spends-my-money-on-cheap-trendy-items-from-the-likes-of-forever-21-and-hm-4">See the rest of the story at Business Insider</a> http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11Why executives are fleeing $500 million startup Rent the Runwayhttp://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11
Sun, 22 Nov 2015 08:35:27 -0500Maya Kosoff
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/564b4eaa2491f945028b5bae-3313-2485/rent the runway-1.jpg" alt="Rent the Runway" data-mce-source="Kris Connor / Stringer / Getty" data-mce-caption="Jenn Hyman and Jenny Fleiss attend the Rent the Runway DC store Opening at Rent The Runway on November 24, 2014 in Washington, DC." /></p><p>In the last two months,&nbsp;Rent the Runway has lost four top executives.</p>
<p>The New York startup, which rents formal dresses and accessories to users for affordable prices, recently lost chief technical officer Camille Fournier and chief creative officer Linda Honan, in addition to its head of partnerships and president.</p>
<p>More executives have left in the past year, too, including the company's CFO, head of people and talent, and its COO.</p>
<p><span>On Tuesday morning, Fortune's Daniel Roberts&nbsp;<a href="http://fortune.com/2015/11/17/rent-the-runway-exodus/">published a report</a>&nbsp;after speaking with Rent the Runway's former employees, investors, and CEO. The article concluded&nbsp;that Rent the Runway's problems with turnover stem primarily from a hostile corporate culture.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Rent the Runway was founded in 2009 by two Harvard Business School&nbsp;classmates, Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss. Hyman is the company's CEO, and Fleiss&nbsp;heads up the company's business development efforts. The startup was last valued at about $500 million by venture capitalists and it has raised more than $110 million to date.</span></p>
<p>Business Insider separately interviewed a few former employees and executives at Rent the Runway who had similar accounts of what was happening at the startup. Here's what&nbsp;they said.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Management team is not on the same page.&nbsp;</strong>There's&nbsp;"definitely a lack of strategic direction from senior management," one former employee says. "The C-suites are NOT aligned."&nbsp;</li>
<li><span><strong>Jenn Hyman has a reputation for being "cold."</strong> Former employees have told Business Insider that R</span><span>e</span><span>nt the Runway's management, specifically Hyman, is a large part of the reason Rent the Runway has been bleeding talent. One former employee called Fleiss the good cop and Hyman the bad cop.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span><strong><span>A&nbsp;</span>"culture of fear" in the office.</strong> Of Hyman one person&nbsp;said, "She&nbsp;<span><span><span class="moreEllipses">creates an&nbsp;environment of fear because she wants you to be afraid of her and she wants you to know that she's in charge.&nbsp;</span></span></span>She creates this toxic environment where people are on edge every single day."&nbsp;It's important to note, however, that no source provided&nbsp;a specific instance of&nbsp;Hyman acting cold or being unapproachable. Some said they were afraid that&nbsp;sharing a particular incident might&nbsp;reveal their identities.</span></li>
<li><strong>Parts of the company are disorganized and inefficient</strong>. <span>"You're constantly running in circles, never being able to get things done and having things go through a million processes and reviews," a former employee told Business Insider.</span></li>
<li><strong>An excessive amount of turnover. </strong>One former employee who was at the company for&nbsp;about two years says she saw 100 people&nbsp;leave in that time. Some departures had a ripple effect. When CTO Camille Fournier left, for example, it created a rift because she was well-liked and respected within the organization.</li>
<li><span><strong>Rent the Runway rolled out an unlimited subscription service last year, and it's not doing so well.</strong> Called Unlimited, the program is in beta now and the CEO admitted to Fortune that the product has gone through 40 different iterations.&nbsp;</span><span>A former employee who spoke with Business Insider also says Unlimited is stumbling. "Unlimited just never leveled up into a higher business strategy, and I think they're still trying to figure it out," this person&nbsp;said.</span></li>
<li><strong>There's a "Devil Wears Prada"-like book that's supposedly about Rent the Runway. "</strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Knockoff-Novel-Lucy-Sykes/dp/0385539584">The Knockoff</a>"&nbsp;is a 2015 book co-written by Lucy Sykes, who worked for Rent the Runway as a fashion director and consultant from 2011 to 2012.</li>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Fortune unearthed a Facebook group called "</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Rent the Runaways" consists of about 100 former Rent the Runway&nbsp;employees.</strong>&nbsp;A source told Fortune the group exists because everyone who leaves the company has post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/564b3eea2491f974028b5afb-1111-833/15080191227_fe45fa8cab_o.jpg" alt="Camille Fournier Rent the Runway" data-mce-source="Flickr/O'Reilly Conference" data-mce-caption="Rent The Runway CTO Camille Fournier presenting at the Velocity New York 2014 conference." /></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We reached out to Rent the Runway for comment, but have not heard back. Hyman addressed many of the accusations in Fortune, though. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hyman attributes some of the turnover to corporate strategy. She told Fortune, "</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I looked around at the team that I had and thought that we needed a very different team to scale us." She says Rent The Runway needs a mix of people who have lived and breathed the company's mission for years, as well as seasoned executives to take it to the next level.</span></p>
<p><span>As for criticism of corporate culture, Hyman says it stings and isn't true.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span><span>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s extremely disappointing to hear because I care so much about the culture and about every single person who I&rsquo;ve ever hired," Hyman told Fortune, adding that 2015 has been the most "emotional, difficult year of my career."</span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zocdocs-company-culture-2015-7" >Insiders say billion-dollar New York startup ZocDoc is run like a total 'frat house'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/take-a-four-seasons-jet-100k-around-world-2015-11">You can take a Four Seasons private jet around the world for $100K</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11Why executives are fleeing $500 million startup Rent the Runwayhttp://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11
Tue, 17 Nov 2015 12:00:04 -0500Maya Kosoff
<p><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/564b4eaa2491f945028b5bae-3313-2485/rent the runway-1.jpg" alt="Rent the Runway" data-mce-source="Kris Connor / Stringer / Getty" data-mce-caption="Jenn Hyman and Jenny Fleiss attend the Rent the Runway DC store Opening at Rent The Runway on November 24, 2014 in Washington, DC." /></p><p>In the last two months,&nbsp;Rent the Runway has lost four top executives.</p>
<p>The New York startup, which rents formal dresses and accessories to users for affordable prices, recently lost chief technical officer Camille Fournier and chief creative officer Linda Honan, in addition to its head of partnerships and president.</p>
<p>More executives have left in the past year, too, including the company's CFO, head of people and talent, and its COO.</p>
<p><span>On Tuesday morning, Fortune's Daniel Roberts&nbsp;<a href="http://fortune.com/2015/11/17/rent-the-runway-exodus/">published a report</a>&nbsp;after speaking with Rent the Runway's former employees, investors, and CEO. The article concluded&nbsp;that Rent the Runway's problems with turnover stem primarily from a hostile corporate culture.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>Rent the Runway was founded in 2009 by two Harvard Business School&nbsp;classmates, Jennifer Hyman and Jennifer Fleiss. Hyman is the company's CEO, and Fleiss&nbsp;heads up the company's business development efforts. The startup was last valued at about $500 million by venture capitalists and it has raised more than $110 million to date.</span></p>
<p>Business Insider separately interviewed a few former employees and executives at Rent the Runway who had similar accounts of what was happening at the startup. Here's what&nbsp;they said.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Management team is not on the same page.&nbsp;</strong>There's&nbsp;"definitely a lack of strategic direction from senior management," one former employee says. "The C-suites are NOT aligned."&nbsp;</li>
<li><span><strong>Jenn Hyman has a reputation for being "cold."</strong> Former employees have told Business Insider that R</span><span>e</span><span>nt the Runway's management, specifically Hyman, is a large part of the reason Rent the Runway has been bleeding talent. One former employee called Fleiss the good cop and Hyman the bad cop.&nbsp;</span></li>
<li><span><strong><span>A&nbsp;</span>"culture of fear" in the office.</strong> Of Hyman one person&nbsp;said, "She&nbsp;<span><span><span class="moreEllipses">creates an&nbsp;environment of fear because she wants you to be afraid of her and she wants you to know that she's in charge.&nbsp;</span></span></span>She creates this toxic environment where people are on edge every single day."&nbsp;It's important to note, however, that no source provided&nbsp;a specific instance of&nbsp;Hyman acting cold or being unapproachable. Some said they were afraid that&nbsp;sharing a particular incident might&nbsp;reveal their identities.</span></li>
<li><strong>Parts of the company are disorganized and inefficient</strong>. <span>"You're constantly running in circles, never being able to get things done and having things go through a million processes and reviews," a former employee told Business Insider.</span></li>
<li><strong>An excessive amount of turnover. </strong>One former employee who was at the company for&nbsp;about two years says she saw 100 people&nbsp;leave in that time. Some departures had a ripple effect. When CTO Camille Fournier left, for example, it created a rift because she was well-liked and respected within the organization.</li>
<li><span><strong>Rent the Runway rolled out an unlimited subscription service last year, and it's not doing so well.</strong> Called Unlimited, the program is in beta now and the CEO admitted to Fortune that the product has gone through 40 different iterations.&nbsp;</span><span>A former employee who spoke with Business Insider also says Unlimited is stumbling. "Unlimited just never leveled up into a higher business strategy, and I think they're still trying to figure it out," this person&nbsp;said.</span></li>
<li><strong>There's a "Devil Wears Prada"-like book that's supposedly about Rent the Runway. "</strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Knockoff-Novel-Lucy-Sykes/dp/0385539584">The Knockoff</a>"&nbsp;is a 2015 book co-written by Lucy Sykes, who worked for Rent the Runway as a fashion director and consultant from 2011 to 2012.</li>
<li><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Fortune unearthed a Facebook group called "</strong><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><strong>Rent the Runaways" consists of about 100 former Rent the Runway&nbsp;employees.</strong>&nbsp;A source told Fortune the group exists because everyone who leaves the company has post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).</span></li>
</ul>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><img src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/564b3eea2491f974028b5afb-1111-833/15080191227_fe45fa8cab_o.jpg" alt="Camille Fournier Rent the Runway" data-mce-source="Flickr/O'Reilly Conference" data-mce-caption="Rent The Runway CTO Camille Fournier presenting at the Velocity New York 2014 conference." /></span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">We reached out to Rent the Runway for comment, but have not heard back. Hyman addressed many of the accusations in Fortune, though. </span></p>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">Hyman attributes some of the turnover to corporate strategy. She told Fortune, "</span><span style="line-height: 1.5em;">I looked around at the team that I had and thought that we needed a very different team to scale us." She says Rent The Runway needs a mix of people who have lived and breathed the company's mission for years, as well as seasoned executives to take it to the next level.</span></p>
<p><span>As for criticism of corporate culture, Hyman says it stings and isn't true.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span><span>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s extremely disappointing to hear because I care so much about the culture and about every single person who I&rsquo;ve ever hired," Hyman told Fortune, adding that 2015 has been the most "emotional, difficult year of my career."</span></span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zocdocs-company-culture-2015-7" >Insiders say billion-dollar New York startup ZocDoc is run like a total 'frat house'</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/executive-flight-at-rent-the-runway-2015-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/take-a-four-seasons-jet-100k-around-world-2015-11">You can take a Four Seasons private jet around the world for $100K</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/sharing-economy-best-and-worst-apps-2015-6There's an army of apps to get almost anything you want on demand — here are the best and worsthttp://www.businessinsider.com/sharing-economy-best-and-worst-apps-2015-6
Fri, 12 Jun 2015 15:24:00 -0400Nathan McAlone
<p dir="ltr"><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/557a05e7ecad04c9483f07aa-775-581/taskrabbit-app-1.jpg" border="0" alt="TaskRabbit app">The sharing economy is the idea that you can rent almost any service or product imaginable, exactly when you need it. From food delivery (like Postmates) to a ride (Uber) to a person to help you build bookshelves (TaskRabbit), it's all there.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The idea is built on convenience and mobility, so it’s only natural that apps would play a large part in a company’s success or failure. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>But some surprisingly prominent companies have mobile experiences that make you want to scream at every designer.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">In its first broad analysis of apps and the sharing economy, <a href="http://arc.applause.com/">ARC from Applause</a>&nbsp;looked at 48 apps and ranked them based on quality. This metric included the entire experience of the app — both the quality of the service itself and of the app’s interface. And to qualify, these apps had to have over 150 app store reviews.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>The ranking was based on an 100-point scale, with 67 being around the average for all apps (both in and out of the sharing economy). The sharing economy apps didn't score well, lagging behind all others by an average of 8 points.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Though many of the highly-rated apps didn’t have many user reviews, Rent the Runway, a designer dress and accessories rental place, and traffic-navigation app Waze, both landed at the top of the chart. Hovering near the bottom were Couchsurfing, Etsy, TaskRabbit, and Kickstarter, though none of these have experiences that are primarily driven by mobile.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Freelancing marketplace Elance was dead last, scoring a dismal 17.</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>With the continued rise of companies like Uber, the sharing economy is poised to become even more central in our overall economic system. In a </span><a href="http://recode.net/2015/04/14/the-sharing-economy-is-getting-very-big-very-fast-says-pwc-study/"><span>recent report</span></a><span> by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 43% of consumers say that owning today actually feels like a burden, and 83% think the sharing economy makes life more convenient and efficient.</span></p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-61f7cbe9-e4a3-3df6-c72f-657fce8d5e41"><span>Unless you’re using the Elance app. See the chart below.</span></span></p>
<p><span><span><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/557a0540ecad0485523f07a9-676-904/screen shot 2015-06-11 at 5.21.53 pm.png" border="0" alt="Screen Shot 2015 06 11 at 5.21.53 PM"><br></span></span></p>
<p><span><span>&nbsp;</span></span></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-sharing-economy-needs-a-social-safety-net-2015-6" >The sharing economy needs a social safety net.</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/sharing-economy-best-and-worst-apps-2015-6#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ubereats-uber-meals-takeout-delivery-fast-food-2015-5">Uber has a new ad that promises to change everything about the food delivery game</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-ceo-jennifer-hyman-wants-ups-and-fedex-out-of-business-2015-3Why the CEO of a $400 million e-commerce company wants UPS and FedEx 'out of business'http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-ceo-jennifer-hyman-wants-ups-and-fedex-out-of-business-2015-3
Wed, 18 Mar 2015 16:03:05 -0400Jillian D'Onfro
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/5509d949eab8ea397807292f-600-/jennifer-hyman-8.jpg" border="0" alt="Jennifer Hyman" width="600"></p><p>Jennifer Hyman, the CEO of ecommerce company Rent the Runway, thinks that FedEx and UPS need to be completely disrupted.</p>
<p>Her company lets users rent and return designer dresses instead of buying them. The site is valued around $400 million and was&nbsp;<a href="http://fortune.com/2014/12/19/rent-the-runway-raises-60-million/">projected to book about $48 million in yearly revenue&nbsp;</a><span>in 2014. </span></p>
<p><span>But Hyman says her biggest operating cost, by far, was shipping, even though she gets great discounts for volume.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p><span>"The delivery network needs to be completely ripped up and re-created in order for any ecommerce business to have sustainable profit margins over time," she said at a panel at Austin tech conference South by Southwest last weekend. "Everyone always thinks shipping costs will go down every year, but in fact Fed-Ex and UPS <em>raise</em> their rates every year."</span></p>
<p>Hyman then applauded several companies popping up in Silicon Valley that are trying to "disrupt delivery," like Shyp, Postmates, and Parcel. There's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/doordash-raises-35-million-at-600-million-valuation-2015-3">also DoorDash</a>, a startup that delivers food but is ultimately focused on its logistical delivery infrastructure, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/wunwun-san-francisco-launch-2014-9">the New York-based WunWun</a>, which delivers small orders of local goods for free,&nbsp;and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/instacart-raised-220-million-2015-1">Instacart</a>, which is also trying to make fast, cheap deliveries viable.&nbsp;Big players like Google,&nbsp;Amazon,&nbsp;Uber are also experimenting with their own delivery models. Amazon in particular has <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304788404579521522792859890">reportedly been building its own delivery fleet</a> to take on UPS. &nbsp;</p>
<p>"Let's have them all be successful, because we need to put UPS and FedEx out of business," she says. "We really do. If you want to start a shipping business, I will support you.&nbsp;The only way for ecommerce growth to be economically viable is if the delivery network changes."&nbsp;</p>
<p>Hyman founded Rent the Runway in 2009 and it has since swelled to 5 million shoppers. It has raised about $114 million in funding total, including a $60 million Series D round at &nbsp;<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/10/28/rent-the-runway-nears-end-of-series-d-round-valuation-could-top-600-million/">a&nbsp;</a><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/10/28/rent-the-runway-nears-end-of-series-d-round-valuation-could-top-600-million/">valuation</a><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/10/28/rent-the-runway-nears-end-of-series-d-round-valuation-could-top-600-million/">&nbsp;between $400 - $600 million</a>, according to Forbes.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-cto-werner-vogels-interview-panel-2015-3" >Amazon is hiring so many people that interviews take up more than 30% of many engineers' time</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-ceo-jennifer-hyman-wants-ups-and-fedex-out-of-business-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/evantubehd-youtube-star-evan-toys-unboxing-2015-2">This 9-year-old makes $1 million a year opening toys</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-future-plans-2015-3This startup founder wants you to be able to go on a vacation without packing a suitcasehttp://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-future-plans-2015-3
Sat, 14 Mar 2015 11:18:48 -0400Jillian D'Onfro
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/550446cc6bb3f7705f650218-1200-924/jennifer-hyman-4.jpg" border="0" alt="Jennifer Hyman"></p><p>Imagine going on a vacation and not having to pack a suitcase. You could waltz off the airplane with only a small carry-on because when you got into your hotel room — viola! — your closet was already filled with clothing.</p>
<p>Clothing that you pre-rented from Rent the Runway.</p>
<p>That's one of the ultimate visions of CEO Jennifer Hyman.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Hyman founded Rent the Runway in 2009 to give women a way to save money by renting — not buying —designer dresses for special events.</p>
<p>The site has since swelled to 5 million shoppers and was <a href="http://fortune.com/2014/12/19/rent-the-runway-raises-60-million/">projected to book about $48 million in yearly revenue </a>in 2014.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>But renters won't always have to get their clothes and accessories delivered to their homes.&nbsp;</span>Hyman, who spoke on a panel Friday afternoon at SXSW, says her dream is to be able to travel without a suitcase.</p>
<p>"You want to have this magical experience when you travel," she says. "This will happen via Rent the Runway at some point very soon. You'll be able to&nbsp;show up at your hotel room, open up the closet, and everything you need for your trip will be there waiting for you. We're going to do this."</p>
<p>Although Hyman didn't offer any more specific timeline, she did talk about another fun feature the company has been beta-testing since the summer, that she describes as a sort of Netflix for dresses. In the same way old-school Netflix users could order DVDs in the mail, Rent the Runway Unlimited customers<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;get </span><a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;ved=0CB8QFjAA&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.renttherunway.com%2Funlimited%26action%3Dclick_homepage_hero&amp;ei=8EgEVceoJcSYNtyMgvAI&amp;usg=AFQjCNE9HPz76YxfMCZT2L8fV-PDeReVew&amp;bvm=bv.88198703,d.eXY">an unlimited number of dresses and accessories</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"> for $99 a month.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/google-cfo-patrick-pichette-is-retiring-2015-3" >Google's 'secret weapon' is retiring to go travel the world</a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/rent-the-runway-future-plans-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/why-men-cheat-affair-love-sex-psychotherapist-2015-1">Research Reveals Why Men Cheat, And It's Not What You Think</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/jennifer-hyman-rent-the-runway-interview-2015-3How asking for 'a few million dollars' as a 21-year-old at her first job helped this woman build a $400+ million company http://www.businessinsider.com/jennifer-hyman-rent-the-runway-interview-2015-3
Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:09:00 -0400Jillian D'Onfro
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5503733169bedd96038b4567-1176-899/hyman2.jpg" border="0" alt="Jennifer Hyman"></p><p>Jennifer Hyman's first job out of college was at a travel company at one of the worst times for travel companies: Right after September 11.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"Industries that are chaotic are ripe for innovation," Hyman said during a talk at SXSW Friday afternoon. "They are open to anyone who has an idea."</p>
<p>That was certainly the case at Hyman's company, the hotel and resort businesses Starwood, and she decided to take advantage of it. She'd realized, looking at trends and the lives of people she knew, that couples were getting married later and that they valued experiences over owning things.&nbsp;</p>
<p>So, at only 21, she went to the president of the company and asked for a few million dollars to start the first honeymoon registry in the world. She wanted to create a way for newlyweds to receive trips and adventures instead of new cooking sets.</p>
<p>Almost unbelievably, the president<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;gave her the money.&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>"I spent the next few years as an in-trepreneur, trying to build this business from scratch and influence people as a very young person at a big corporation," Hyman says. The honeymoon registry she created started to blossom and grow and eventually even got a shout-out on the Oprah Winfery Show for how innovative it was. &nbsp;</p>
<p>But for Hyman, that was just the beginning. As she continued to hustle her way through her young adult life, she kept the same thesis: That people valued experiences over ownership. One area that she thought that this idea could be especially true was in clothing.</p>
<p>Everyone cares about <em>feeling</em> amazing for a job interview or on a first date, she thought, more than they care about owning the clothes to create that feeling.&nbsp;</p>
<p><span>"We put all this stuff in our closets that we eventually push to the back," she says. "I wanted to empower people to rent instead of buy."</span></p>
<p>So, using the entrepreneurial (and funding) skills she learned at Starwood, Hyman started Rent the Runway in 2009, an ecommerce site that lets women rent and return designer clothes for special events.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p>
<p>Rent the Runway&nbsp;<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">has raised about $114 million in funding total, including a $60 million Series D round at &nbsp;<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/10/28/rent-the-runway-nears-end-of-series-d-round-valuation-could-top-600-million/">a&nbsp;</a></span><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/10/28/rent-the-runway-nears-end-of-series-d-round-valuation-could-top-600-million/">valuation</a><span style="line-height: 1.5em;"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/10/28/rent-the-runway-nears-end-of-series-d-round-valuation-could-top-600-million/">&nbsp;between $400 - $600 million</a>, according to Forbes. It has 5 million shoppers.&nbsp;</span></p><p><strong>SEE ALSO:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-surprising-way-amazon-decides-what-new-enterprise-products-to-work-on-next-2015-3" >Why Amazon forces developers to write press releases </a></strong></p>
<p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/jennifer-hyman-rent-the-runway-interview-2015-3#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/smartphone-impact-brain-body-sleep-2015-2">This is what happens to your brain and body when you check your phone before bed</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/ugly-holiday-sweaters-on-rent-the-runway-2014-12You Can Now Rent Ugly Holiday Sweaters On Rent The Runwayhttp://www.businessinsider.com/ugly-holiday-sweaters-on-rent-the-runway-2014-12
Thu, 04 Dec 2014 12:27:41 -0500Taylor Lorenz
<p dir="ltr"><span><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/548097326da81153027a8c91-1080-810/ugly-holiday-sweater.jpg" border="0" alt="Ugly Holiday Sweater">It wouldn’t be the holidays without an Ugly Christmas Sweater party, but dropping a hard earned $65 on a custom bedazzled snowman jumper is never a joy. &nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr">This year, Rent the Runway has launched a custom Ugly Holiday Sweater <a href="https://www.renttherunway.com/designer_detail/uglyholidaysweaters/sizes-10--postalCode-22205">capsule collection</a> specifically for this cause.<span style="line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>Unlike their usual array of fancy dresses, Rent the Runway has curated the collection of 12 sweaters, cardigans, and vests to be as unattractive as possible. </span></p>
<p dir="ltr"><span>One sweater even features an entire teddy bear sewn onto the stomach.</span></p>
<p><span id="docs-internal-guid-bf100082-164c-0cf2-1630-d867369636e8"><span>The sweaters are all available in a single, one-size-fits all size, and a four day rental costs $15.</span></span></p>
<p>The collection has launched just in time for National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day which will take place on Dec. 12th.&nbsp;<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5480979d6da81124027a8c91-1067-800/ugly-holiday-sweater-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Ugly Holiday Sweater"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.5em;">&nbsp;</span></p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ugly-holiday-sweaters-on-rent-the-runway-2014-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> http://www.businessinsider.com/qa-with-rent-the-runway-cto-camille-fournier-2014-11How A Former Goldman Sachs VP Became CTO Of A ~$750 Million Startuphttp://www.businessinsider.com/qa-with-rent-the-runway-cto-camille-fournier-2014-11
Thu, 13 Nov 2014 11:14:00 -0500Alyson Shontell
<p><img style="float:right;" src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5464c102ecad048a1bea5479-758-568/camille-fournier-rent-the-runway.png" border="0" alt="camille fournier rent the runway"></p><p>Camille Fournier is used to people asking about diversity in her field. The former Goldman Sachs VP of Technology is now CTO of Rent The Runway, a dress and accessories rental shop that's <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenbertoni/2014/08/20/how-mixing-data-and-fashion-can-make-rent-the-runway-techs-next-billion-dollar-star/">reportedly mulling a new fundraise at a ~$750 million valuation.</a></p>
<p>Business Insider sat down with Fournier to discuss her career, how she got into programming, the difference between being a CTO and a head of engineering, and how she keeps the brogrammers out of her company.</p>
<p>Here's a lightly edited Q&amp;A.</p>
<p><strong>Business Insider: Tell me about your early career and how you went from Goldman Sachs to a startup.</strong></p>
<p><strong>Camille Fournier:&nbsp;</strong>I was at Goldman for a long time. I worked at Microsoft in Seattle for a year and a half before that. I was 22 and didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, so I did what people do when they don't know what they want: I went to grad school and got a Masters [in computer science].</p>
<p>Then I decided I wanted to live in New York. One of my best friends from college moved to work for Google and I got connected with Goldman. That ended up being great job and great team. I was working in credit risk software and big data before the term "big data" existed. I got to do a lot of fun work there over 6.5 years.</p>
<p>Toward the end I realized I wanted a bigger leadership opportunity.</p>
<p><strong>BI: Why'd you pick Rent the Runway and how'd you become its CTO?</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong> I had been vaguely looking [for a new job] when a friend from college, who was at Rent the Runway, grabbed me.</p>
<p>I thought, "Is renting dresses going to be interesting or challenging?" Then I met CEO Jenn Hyman. I made her come to my coffee shop. I remember she was perched on this tiny stool. She’s one of most intense people I’ve ever met.&nbsp;</p>
<p>I talked to a lot of members of executive team and was impressed by the business. I love that it’s female cofounders. I thought everyone seemed really smart — but the tech when I joined 3 years ago was a disaster. I have confidence that I can fix tech disasters so I joined as director of engineering. <span>I came 2 years in...I was employee #99 or something. It was less than 100 people but barely less.</span></p>
<p>I didn’t expect 3 years later I’d be CTO. My team is 55 people now and was 12 people then. It’s been a wild ride. In the interim, I got pregnant, married and had a baby.<img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/5464d3d9ecad040271bb083f-1200-800/rtr-1.jpg" border="0" alt="rent the runway jenn hyman and jenny fleiss cofounders ceo" width="800"></p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">BI: You became CTO, got married and had a baby all in the same time frame? How'd you juggle everything?</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong> I’m sort of grateful it all happened then. Jenny, the RTR cofounder, had a baby right after I joined and she's having second one soon. There are a lot of parents on staff. It’s not easy but it's a good company to have a child at. I never felt anyone had any doubt I’d come back [from maternity leave] or that I'd have a place to come back to. I felt if I can do that then I can do anything and survive.</p>
<p><strong>BI: How'd you decide to major in computer science?</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong>&nbsp;I’ve always been a bit of a nerd. I’m a stereotypical tech story in that I liked math and science. But I also enjoyed English literature and music.</p>
<p>My grandmother said to me, "You should go to school for computer science. I’m looking at U.S. News and World Report and it says it's where all the jobs will be. You can do this, so you should do this."</p>
<blockquote class="pullquote">My grandmother said to me, 'You should go to school for computer science. I’m looking at U.S. News and World Report and it says it's where all the jobs will be. You can do this, so you should do this.'</blockquote>
<p>My parents said, "We know you love literature and music but you also love money. So perhaps you should go into a field where you can make money."</p>
<p>I’m certain if I had a family where they were like, "Girls don’t do tech," I’d be a miserable lawyer or something.</p>
<p><strong>BI:&nbsp;Did you grow up writing code?&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong>&nbsp;I didn’t code very much growing up. In high school I tried it and did some summer programs around it. I don’t spend my free time creating cool side projects although I know people who do and I’m envious of that. I’m not one of those people. I don’t have that type of creativity. I’m like, "Give me a really hard problem that needs to be solved. I’ll fix it and make it better." I don’t like being given a total blank slate but that’s an area I’m becoming more confident in.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>BI: How long did it take for you to master programming if you didn't grow up doing it much?</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong>&nbsp;I didn’t master it until my late 20s. I have a high standard of mastery. I consider true fluency and mastery when, if you give me any problem, the thing between me and solving it won’t be me, it will be some external factor, like finding information from someone else, but it won’t be my own abilities. I did not achieve that until my mid-to-late 20s. I think people can become programmers fairly quickly. I’ve worked with people who spent a year learning it and did good work. But very few pick it up and are true masters soon after. You have a million mistakes you’ll have to make, there are a million languages to learn, and then you’ll make those million mistakes in a bunch of different ways. You have to learn from all your mistakes.</p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">BI: I assume you get asked about your career and gender a lot. Do you find that insulting? Or is there a diversity in tech issue that needs to be addressed?</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong> Yes [I get asked that a lot]. But there is an issue. In startups, we’re just recreating stereotypes of 50 years ago. Tech is so heavily biased towards one type of person. It’s a shame I think.</p>
<p>In NYC, the finance industry and big companies like Google really try very hard to grow female talent. But what’s lacking is in startup world, there are so few female founders. I'm not saying female CTOs couldn’t be successful with male CEOs, but I love working with an executive team that has a lot of women. I feel like I don’t have to pretend to be someone I’m not. Otherwise, you have to sort of speak the male language in a particular way.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It’s a shame that there are few female CTOs. 70% of RTR's executive team is women.</p>
<p><strong>BI: A lot of startups have been criticized for having a "brogrammer" culture. Have you had to deal with that?</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong> I don’t think RTR has ever been a brogrammer culture, but we’ve had different cultures on the team during the time I’ve been there. When you have a female CTO, you’re never going to have a whole company culture of brogrammers but you can have pockets of it.</p>
<p>Our tech team is diverse, not just in terms of gender but in terms of background and I actually think that’s really valuable. Being able to recruit a diverse team means we have a more resilient culture with greater strength and variety of ideas. Yes, we have a Kegerator in the office and we’ll drink beers on Fridays and share work we've done during the week, but that’s not a segue to everyone heading to bar [and being brogrammery]. It's a chance to get together and celebrate our work.</p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">BI: You said you worried RTR wouldn't be a big enough challenge for you as a tech executive. Is it?</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong>&nbsp;I think RTR is a very challenging business. It’s not an obvious business but it’s a really challenging tech business. We have a huge logistics side of it. Everything we ship out has to come back [to our warehouse]. Very few companies that work in that world. There are giant companies that do but at a startup size, very few.</p>
<p>We’re moving to a warehouse in Secaucus that's 160,000 square feet. We have one of the world's largest dry cleaners in our warehouse. &nbsp;There are giant bins of UPS envelopes that all look the same. We have to have all the software to scan the packages and decide, "I don’t need to open this box because I don’t need to ship it back out today, but I do need to open this one because the dress needs to be cleaned, inspected and sent back out."</p>
<p>That’s a hugely complex piece of technology we’ve had to build. I think when the company was founded they knew there’d be a lot of tech involved but nowhere near the scale it really is. This is not a typical e-commerce business. We are a weird commerce-travel hybrid with the date- and time-based challenges of travel.</p>
<p><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5464d4c26bb3f7f45ac7e878-1200-800/15080191227_fe45fa8cab_o.jpg" border="0" alt="Camille Fournier Rent the Runway" width="800"></p>
<p><strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">BI: What's the difference between a CTO and a Head of Engineering?&nbsp;</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong> I think you can not be a C-level executive if you're not thinking about business strategy. My goal is to understand the broadest scope of future opportunities for business and build our tech with that in mind.</p>
<p>It’s very easy for an engineer to only build tech that enables one specific thing. I’m trying to enable many things. You have to realize that, hey, all the software we’ve built, we could build a marketplace for it if we wanted to. It wouldn't happen overnight, but we have the tech in place to do it. There's a strategy element to being a CTO. You have to think about the future.</p>
<p>For RTR's future, that might be thinking 2-5 years out. To be CTO of Amazon, you have to think more like 10-15 years.</p>
<p>The head of engineering is focused on just the operational aspect, focused on the here and now. Do we have the right people in the right places to make sure they’re doing their best jobs?&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>BI: At a startup, it must be tempting to be short-sighted when you code something because there's pressure to move quickly.</strong></p>
<p><strong>CF:</strong> When I joined, the joke was that Jenny would come over and stand behind an engineer and say, "Can you do this over?" She'd stand over his shoulder and he’d do it. You have to break that habit. When you don’t have that many features you’re supporting, it can seem ok, but things that work in that scale don’t work when you have a big team and a lot of people relying on you. You have to be more thoughtful.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/qa-with-rent-the-runway-cto-camille-fournier-2014-11#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p>